Motor vehicle communication system and method for exchanging data in a motor vehicle

ABSTRACT

A vehicle communication system has at least one processor unit ( 1 ), arranged in the vehicle, for controlling applications, a plurality of different data sources ( 2, 4, 5, 6, 8 ) which are connected to the processor unit ( 1 ), and a plurality of operator consoles ( 9 ) which are connected to the processor unit ( 1 ). Access rights with different degrees of priority to the applications are allocated to the individual operator consoles ( 9 ).

The invention relates to a vehicle communication system and a method forexchanging data in a vehicle, in which data are exchanged between aplurality of different data sources which are connected to at least oneprocessor unit, and a plurality of operator consoles which are connectedto the process unit.

The laid-open publication DE 196 25 002 A1 discloses a vehiclecommunication system with a central processor unit for carrying outtelematic applications and with interfaces via which equipment units fortransmitting and connecting data can be connected to the centralprocessor unit. The equipment units are assigned to the varioustelematic applications in a flexibly controllable fashion. With thissystem, a user can access different telematic applications in a flexibleway.

The periodical mot, volume No. 21/1997, presents, on pages 20 to 21, anInternet multimedia system in a passenger car in which a driver canaccess external information services. At the rear of the vehicle, flatscreens are provided for interactive games for passengers. Functionsavailable in the vehicle can be output on the screens, throughloudspeakers or headsets via an audio/video switch.

The patent application WO 97/03399 discloses a method in which the userof a networked computer is provided, on his user interface, with a listof application programs which are available to him in a computernetwork.

The U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,081 relates to a computer network in whichdifferent computer types can be connected to one another. Software whichmonitors the resources and applications of a computer system runs oneach server of the computer system. Using the software of the individualservers of the computer system, administration software installed on acomputer of the system is provided with a list of all the resources andapplications present on the entire system and their status.

The patent application EP 0 625 838 A2 discloses a token ring networkwhich has workstations on which both conventional application programsand multimedia application programs run. The latter do not usuallyexhibit tolerant behavior toward delays during the exchange of data. Forthis reason, the network has three priority levels. Before a multimediaapplication is started, testing takes place to determine whether thenetwork can provide a sufficiently high data throughput.

The international patent application WO 98/26958 relates to afault-resistant control system for a car in which different componentsare integrated. A master control unit administers the data flow betweenthe components via a bus. The master control unit is operated with aconfigurable Windows operating system.

The international patent application WO 98/34812 discloses a multimediaunit for a motor vehicle in which a user can select an option from amultiplicity of options presented on a screen.

The patent EP 0 547 052 B1 discloses an adaptive display for vehicles inwhich information is classified and presented on a screen as a functionof its ranking.

The laid-open publication DE 197 43 249 A1 discloses a navigation devicewhich makes a selection for the driver when a multiplicity ofinformation items are present. The selection is determined by means of adefined priority sequence.

An object of the invention is to make available a vehicle communicationsystem and a method for exchanging data in a vehicle in which aplurality of operator consoles are configured differently and can thusbe set individually to the requirements or desires of differentoccupants of a vehicle.

This object is achieved with a vehicle communication system and a methodsuch as are defined in the independent patent claims. Advantageousembodiments of the invention are specified in the subclaims.

The provision of a central system controller makes it possible toallocate to the different operator consoles individual and differentaccess rights to the applications. The central system controller isimplemented in a central processor unit or in another processor unit ofthe vehicle communication system. Here, the ranking which an operatorconsole is assigned can be specified either uniformly for all theapplications or individually for each application. For example, theoperator console of the driver of a vehicle may be allocated the highestpriority in terms of a navigation device, while on the other hand theallocation of an access right to a television receiver to the driver ofa vehicle may be refused completely or only while the vehicle is beingdriven. In addition, the central system controller may assign outputdevices to operator consoles.

Each operator console can be configured individually by means of theoperator console controller. Such a configuration can conceivably relateto the user prompting at the man/machine interface, the assignment ofrunning applications or their menus to the defined positions of adisplay device, of the access right of applications to an output deviceof the operator console, or the like.

In one particularly preferred embodiment, a plurality of functions areassigned to one application. The application may be, for example, anapplication such as vehicle navigation. This application is assigned thefunctions of routine calculation, navigation information calculation, onposition determination by means of GPS (Global Positioning System),position determination by means of compound navigation and theoutputting of visual or audible navigation information. A function whichcan be executed can be implemented within the device by means ofhardware or software. An application can access functions which arecarried out by different pieces of equipment.

Each function preferably has a software interface for exchanging datawith other software interfaces or hardware interfaces.

In one particularly preferred embodiment, the central system controllerhas a central priority management system. One aspect of the centralpriority management system may be, for example, the assignment of accessrights for the operator consoles to a data bus and/or to applications.One further aspect of the central priority management system may be theassignment of access rights for applications to the data bus or tooperator consoles. When a plurality of actions which are subject topriorities (for example two operator consoles with specific prioritiesrequest an application with specific priorities on the same physicalpiece of equipment which does not have a multi-console capability)coincide, the central priority management system resolves possiblyoccurring conflicts in favor of one of the actions. The time ranking ofthe action is also a suitable decision criterion here.

When the capacity limit or a defined threshold is reached, the datatransmission of a low ranking application is preferably aborted in favorof a higher-ranking application or its data transmission rate isreduced. In this way, it is ensured that, for example in the case of anaccident, an automatic emergency call can be made even though thetransmission capacity of the bus is completely taken up by otherapplications.

In the case of a conflict in which an application would have to beterminated or its data transmission reduced in order to allocate accessto the data bus to another application, weighting of the access rightscan be acquired from a priority right of an application and the priorityright of that operator console which is accessing the application. Theweighting can be calculated with weighting factors which are stored in amatrix in a memory location of the processor unit.

In one particularly preferred embodiment, the graphic user interface ofan operator console can be adapted for the different requirements of aparticularly practised user, a less practised user and of a child bymeans of presettings. Thus, for example only easily understood symbolswithout labeling are provided for the child, a very detailed menu withsubmenus is provided for the less practised user and short menus andkeyboard abbreviations are provided for the practised user.

Further features, advantages and possible applications of the inventionemerge from the following description of exemplary embodiments inconjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic overview of components of a vehiclecommunication system,

FIG. 2 shows a schematic representation of an application which isdistributed among the vehicle communication system, and

FIG. 3 shows a user interface which is represented on a screen.

FIG. 1 illustrates a vehicle communication system in a passenger carhaving a multiplicity of data sources and data sinks. It has a processunit 1 with a freely available memory and an operating system, anavigation unit 2, a gateway 3 for setting up a connection to a vehiclebus which is embodied as a Can bus 14, an audio system 4 for outputtingaudible signals, a tuner 5 for receiving radio signals or televisionsignals and a playback device 6 for DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) and CD(Compact Disk) media. In addition, the vehicle communication system hasan interface 7 for connecting equipment to the user, for example aportable computer, a PDA (personal digital assistant) a CD player or thelike. The interface 7 has both a wire-bound connection and a transmitterand receiver for wire-free data exchange. The wire-free data exchange iscarried out using infrared in accordance with the IRDA standard.

In addition, the vehicle communication system has a mobile telephonemodule 8 and a plurality of operator consoles, of which just oneoperator console 9 is illustrated by way of example. An operator console9 has, in each case, input units and output units, for example akeyboard, a trackball, a microphone for voice recording or as inputmeans for a voice-operated system 10, loudspeaker, headset and a displaydevice 31.

A locating module 11 comprises a GPS receiver, a gyroscope and adistance meter.

All the systems are connected to a common data bus 12 via a hardwareinterface 13 of uniform design.

The communication system is used for carrying out applications,functions and services. It can access external telematic services andthe Internet via the mobile telephone module 8.

One application comprises at least one function which permits theservices to be provided for the user. One function is carried out ineach case in a single equipment unit.

A central system controller 17, an operator console controller 20 and apriority management system 19 are implemented with the processor unit 1.The priority management system 19 has modules which are functionallyassigned to the central system controller 17, and has modules which arefunctionally assigned to the operator console controller 20.

By means of the priority management system 19, each operator console 9can be respectively allocated a priority, either with respect to theentire vehicle communication system or with respect to the individualapplications. In addition, the priority management system 19 controlsaccesses of the individual application to the data bus and to theindividual operator consoles 9.

The priority management system 19 is expediently organized in a modularfunction. The priority management system 19 has a system-relatedpriority management module which controls the accesses of the individualoperator consoles 9 to the applications present in the vehiclecommunication system, and a bus-related priority module which controlsthe accesses and access requests of the applications to the data bus 12.In addition to these two modules, which are functionally assigned to thecentral system controller 17, the priority management system 19 has anoperator console-related priority management module, and more preciselyan operator-console-related priority management module for each operatorconsole 9. The operator-console-related priority management module isfunctionally assigned to the operator console controller 20.

The bus-related priority management module prevents overloading of thedata bus 12 in order to ensure sufficient data transmission quality forall the applications active at a given time. In the event of impendingoverloading of the data bus 12, a new application is permitted only ifcorresponding free bus capacities can be provided simultaneously bymeans of suitable measures. In particular in the case of an access of ahigh-ranking application, such as a traffic jam warning for the driverof the vehicle, one or more low-ranking applications are terminated ortheir data transmission is reduced. Likewise, actions and applicationsof operator consoles which are given a low ranking can be terminated orreduced. The latter can signify that the bus-related priority managementmodule reduces the quality of a video transmission in order to reducethe data volume on the data bus 12.

The bus-related priority management module takes account, in particular,of the fact that certain data of applications, such as a telephone call,have to be transmitted without delay in real time.

In addition, the bus-related priority management module ensures that thebus capacity is occupied only up to a defined threshold so thatsufficient transmission capacity is available for particularlyhigh-ranking applications, for example the automatic or manualtransmission of an emergency call via the mobile telephone module 8.

The bus-related priority management module can be configured in order todetermine those users, applications or actions which will be switchedoff in the case of an excessively high bus load, or which will havetheir data transmission delayed or have their transmission qualityimpaired.

The priority management 19 also comprises a priority master whichresolves conflicts between individual modules of the prioritymanagement. Here, the priority master is superordinate to thesystem-related, operator-console-related and bus-related prioritymanagement modules. A presetting which has been made by means of thesystem-related priority management module enjoys, once more, priorityhere over the operator-console-related priority management module. Ahigh priority which has been specified for a “telephone” application bythe system-related priority module sets the operator-console-relatedpriority management modules to a corresponding priority.

In addition, there is provision in this exemplary embodiment for thepriority master also to be superordinate to the central operator consolecontroller 20 and the resource management system described below.

The possible cases of conflict between the modules of the prioritymanagement system are stored in a matrix and can be set by means of ageneral system configuration module. This general system configurationmodule has a presetting with which the vehicle communication system issupplied to an end customer. It can be provided with a plurality ofadditional presettings ex works so that a user can select between aplurality of typical possibilities without himself having to perform aconfiguration.

Thus, in one presetting there may be provision for the driver of thevehicle to be provided with both visual and audible navigationinformation from the navigation device 2. In another presetting theremay be provision for the driver of the vehicle to be provided only withaudible navigation information in order to avoid him being distractedfrom the events on the road. However, at the same time it is possible toprovide a visual playback of a road map with navigation symbols for apassenger. In this case, the driver of the vehicle is not provided withany access right to the visual output of the navigation device 2.

For each operator console 9, the interaction of the individual operatorconsole 9 with the entire vehicle communication system, and inparticular with the central system controller, is regulated by means ofan operator console controller 20.1, 20.2. In addition, the operatorconsole controller 20.1, 20.2 controls the user interface of an operatorconsole. The operator console controller comprises modules 20.2 whichare functionally assigned to the individual operator consoles 9. Theselocal modules 20.2 may be implemented in the central processor unit. Inthis exemplary embodiment, they are, however, implemented in theindividual operator consoles and are administered by a central module20.1 of the central processor unit 1, although they could also beadministered by local processor units of the operator consoles.

The operator console controller of an operator console 9 comprises theoperator-console-related priority management module and an operatorconsole configuration module. The latter is a subunit of an operationmanagement system, and more precisely of an operation managementconfiguration module.

The operation management system has modules which are functionallyassigned to the central system controller 17, and contains modules whichare functionally assigned to the operator console controller 20.

The operator-console-related priority management module determines thepriorities of the applications present in the vehicle communicationsystem with respect to their access rights to the output devices of theoperator console.

The operator-console-related priority management module is functionallyassigned to the operator console controller 20, but it is neverthelessin a subordination relationship with respect to the central prioritymanagement system 19 which is functionally assigned to the centralsystem controller 17.

FIG. 2 illustrates an application 15 which accesses functions 16.1 to16.5, the functions being embodied within various devices.

The application 15 illustrated relates to a vehicle navigation system.The navigation device 2, the locating module 11 and the audio system 4,inter alia, are connected via the data bus 12. The devices each have ahardware interface 13 with which they are physically connected to thedata bus 12. The functions 16.1 to 16.5 which are implemented in thedevices each have their own software interfaces 18.1 to 18.5. The dataof the hardware interfaces 13 are converted by these software interfacesinto input parameters for the functions 16.1 to 16.5 which are assignedto the respective software interfaces 18.1 to 18.5. The outputparameters of the corresponding functions 16.1 to 16.5 are converted bythe software interfaces 18.1 to 18.5 assigned to the respectivefunctions 16.1 to 16.5 into data for the other software interfaces 18.1to 18.5 and/or of the hardware interfaces 13.

When the “navigation” application is called, the navigation device 2which is equipped with a microprocessor makes available a start menu ona display device of the requesting user. The start menu can beconfigured individually for the operator console using the operatorconsole controller.

After the inputting of a line, function 16.3 firstly determines theinstantaneous location of the vehicle. To do this, the function 16.3accesses the locating module 11. The locating module 11 comprises afunction 16.1 for absolute determination of the location by means of aGPS receiver, and a function 16.2 for relative determination of thelocation by means of angular measurement and measurement of the distancecovered (compound navigation). This data is transferred by the functions16.1 and 16.2 to the navigation device 2 via the software interfaces18.1 and 18.2 and the hardware interface 13.

After this data has been input, the function 16.3 requests the roadnetwork data required to calculate a route from the application 15 ofthe DVD playback device, which is not illustrated in FIG. 2, andcalculates a suitable route to the destination.

The function 16.4 determines driving instructions for the routedetermined by the function 16.3. The driving instructions are output bythe function 16.4 in good time before each maneuver which is to beinitiated by the driver of the vehicle, to the audio system 4 as voiceinformation via the data bus 12. The function 16.5 of the audio systemconverts the voice information into audible signals, amplifies them andplays them back via loudspeakers.

The vehicle communication system has a resource management systemcontrolling the interplay between the user interface, application andfunction units. This resource management system is composed of afunction management module, an access conflict management module and abus capacity management module.

The function management module has the “function availability”,“functional status” and “functional use management” submodules. Inaddition, a module may be provided for the configuration of thefunctional management module in order, for example, to be able to carryout tests by gating out a function.

The “functional availability” submodule administers a list containingall the functions which can be executed in the vehicle communicationsystem, for example the “forward”, “stop”, “playback” “pause” etc.operator functions of the DVD playback device.

The “function status” submodule contains the type of function(controlling or interrogating), the status indicating whether thefunction is being used by an application, if appropriate by whichapplication the function is being used and from which operator consolethe function is being used. At the operator console it is possible todifferentiate between the operator terminal (input means) and the outputdevice. This submodule maps real system states and system properties.

The “function use management” submodule covers the potential logicconnection possibilities between the functions which can be executed,the equipment units and applications and the operation possibilities fora specific application. In the “function use management” submodule,information is stored indicating which data source can transmit its datato which data sinks on the basis of the physical peripheral conditions.

The access conflict management module has the “source access”, “sinkaccesses” and “configuration of the access management system”submodules.

The access conflict management module reports conflicts which have comeabout to the central priority management system. It therefore detectsthe instantaneous state of the entire vehicle communication system forthe priority management system.

The bus capacity management module has the “detection of impendingoverloading”, “detection of existing conflicts” and “configuration ofthe bus capacity management module” submodules. The bus capacitymanagement module reports, like the access conflict management module,the acquired results to the central priority management system. In thiscontext, the results are relevant in particular for the bus-relatedpriority management system.

The “configuration of the bus capacity management module” submodulepermits threshold values, for example the threshold for impendingoverloading of the data bus 12, to be set. In contrast to the modules ofthe bus-related priority management system which handle bus accesses,the bus capacity management module merely determines the system history,supplies an estimate of the possible subsequent state and if appropriateoutputs a message or warning.

The resource management system is functionally assigned to the centralsystem controller.

FIG. 3 illustrates the method of operation of the operator consolecontroller and of the operation management system.

An output device 21 of an operator console makes available a userinterface 22 for the user. Provided on the user interface 22 is a fieldA for e-mails, a field B for traffic news, a field C for incomingtelephone calls and a field D for the outputting of navigationinformation of the “navigation” application.

Incoming e-mails are presented in field A. Traffic news is displayed inthe inactive field B (illustrated by broken lines) if a relevant trafficmessage arrives in the vehicle communication system, and a “traffic jamwarning” application or function accesses the output device 21.

In field C, a “call” selection element lights up as soon as a callarrives for this operator console of the display device 21. The call canbe accepted by activating an operator key, a voice command or the like.

The operation management system controls the user interface. Itrespectively assigns to the individual applications for the individualoperator console a start menu and a section on the screen in which theycan be displayed.

The operator management system has, in addition to the operationmanagement configuration module already mentioned above, also the“automatic state system”, “outputting of source data” and “assignment ofoperator con soles to displays” modules.

The “automatic state system” module has the “automatic state overallsystem” and “automatic state system location 1 to automatic state systemlocation N” submodules. These automatic state systems detect only thereal states of the vehicle communication system and not the freelydefinable system states.

The “automatic state overall system” stores the system states (forexample “DVD playback device operating”), the events which are intendedto trigger a transition into new states (transition states) and thesubsequent states which occur after actions have been triggered. As aresult, the system states which are detected can be connected to themasks of the user interface or to the information which is to be outputto the user.

The automatic state systems of the locations 1 to N detect the relevanthistory of an operation procedure and the applications which are beingused by the respective operator console at that time. In addition, allthe operation possibilities available in the vehicle communicationsystem are stored.

The operation management configuration module has the “overall systemconfiguration”, “operator console configuration location 1” to “operatorconsole configuration location N” submodules. These modules relateexclusively to freely definable system states.

The configuration modules are used to set the user interface and theoperation menus. It is possible to set which start screen and whichstart menu will be displayed, as well as the method of operation desiredby the user. The latter may be distinguished as “advanced control”, “newuser control” or “child-friendly control”. Here, the configuration canbe performed individually for the operator console N using the operatorconsole configuration module location N”.

The “outputting of source data” module brings about the connectionbetween the inputs of a user and the source data which are output at theoperator console and are received via the data bus, for example. Thesource data are intended to be displayed to the user regularly. Theorganization of a display is brought about by this module, together withthe corresponding user menu or as an alternative to this user menu.Source data are therefore connected to configurable user menus.

In order to assign the operator terminals to displays, the “assignmentof operator consoles to displays” module resorts to the “function usemanagement” submodule of the function management system of the resourcemanagement system. This ensures that only a selection of combinationpossibilities which are appropriate for the user are made available. Thevehicle communication system is delivered ex works with a basic settingfor the assignment of the operator terminals to the output devices.

In addition, the “assignment of operator consoles to displays” modulecan also assign a remote control function to a specific operatorconsole.

1. A communication system which has: at least one processor unit (1),arranged in the vehicle, for controlling applications (15), a pluralityof different data sources (2, 4, 5, 6, 8) which are connected to theprocessor unit (1), a plurality of operator consoles (9) which areconnected to the processor unit (1) and have user interfaces foraccessing the applications (9) and for data playback, and a centralsystem controller (17) having a priority management system (19) whichallocates to the individual operator consoles (9) access rights withdifferent degrees of priority to the applications (15).
 2. The vehiclecommunication system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in thatfunctions (16) which are implemented on the processor unit (1) or on adata source (2, 4, 5, 6, 8) are assigned to the applications (15). 3.The vehicle communication system as claimed in claim 1, characterized byan operator console controller (20.1, 20.2) with which the individualoperator consoles (9) can be individually configured.
 4. The vehiclecommunication system as claimed in the preceding claim, characterized inthat the priority management system (19) allocates to the applications(15) individual access rights to a data bus (12) and/or to the processorunit (1).
 5. The vehicle communication system as claimed in thepreceding claim, characterized in that the priority management system(19) allocates to the applications (15) access to the data bus (12) as afunction of the loading of the data bus (12) at that time.
 6. Thevehicle communication system as claimed in claim 4, characterized inthat when a defined load of the data bus (12) is reached or exceeded, atleast one low-level application is aborted or its data transmission rateis reduced.
 7. The vehicle communication system as claimed in claim 4,characterized in that the access of an application (15) to the data bus(12) can be controlled as a function of the priority of the requestingoperator console (9).
 8. The vehicle communication system as claimed inclaim 1, characterized in that the operator console controller (20.1,20.2) allocates individual access rights to the applications (15) forthe access to an operator console (9).
 9. The vehicle communicationsystem as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that a user interface(22) of an operator console (9) can be configured individually by theoperator console controller (20.1, 20.2).
 10. A method for exchangingdata in a vehicle, in which at least one processor unit (1) and aplurality of data sources (2, 4, 5, 6, 8) communicate with operatorconsoles (9) via a data bus (12), different applications (15) beingcontrolled by the processor unit (1) so that they output onto differentoutput devices (21), access rights to the applications (15) beingallocated to the operator consoles (9), access rights with differentdegrees of priority to the applications (15) being allocated to theindividual operator consoles (9).
 11. The method as claimed in thepreceding claim, characterized in that an operator console controller(20.1, 20.2) controls one or more of the following functionsindividually for an operator console (9): user prompting at theman/machine interface, assignment of running applications or their menusto defined positions of a display device, assignment of the access rightof applications to an output device of the operator console.